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NIVEHSITY UJIOANIZATIOxN. 



BY 



JAMES M. GAENETT, M. A., LL. D., 



PnnciiKilof St. John's College, Annapolis, Md. 




^\- [kj^y-T-MyO 



[Reprinted from tho Southern Review for July, 1875.] 






v^ S 



UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 



1. German Universities. By James Morgan Hart. New York. 
1874. 

2. Higher Schools and Universities in Germany. By Matthew 
Arnold, D. C. L. London. 1874. 

3. Verordnungen und Gesetzef'tlr die hoheren Schiden in Preussen. 
Herausgegeben von Dr. L. Wiese. Berlin. 1867-68. 

4. Five Yea7's in an English University. By Charles Astor Bristed. 
Third Edition. New York. 1873. 

5. The Great Schools of England. By Howard Stannton. Lon- 
don. 1865. 

6. "Personal - Verzeichnisse,^^ and " Verzeichnisse der Yorlesungen." 
Berlin: Winter-Semester, 1869-70. Leipzig: Sommer-Sem- 
ester, 1870. 

7. Programmes of various German Gymnasia and Real-Schulen. 

8. Ifushacke's Schul-Kalender. Berlin. 1870. 

9. Oxford and Cambridge University Calendars for 1874. 

The increasing interest taken in the question of University or- 
ganization, and the desire for information with regard to foreign 
schools and Universities, are shown, we think, by the recent pub- 
lication of Prof. Hart's work on the ' German Universities ', the 
republication of that portion of Mr. Matthew Arnold's ' Report 
on Schools and Universities on the Continent' (London, 1868) 
which relates to the ' Higher Schools and Universities in Ger- 
many', and the publication of the third edition of Mr. Bristed's 
well-known work, ' Five Years in an English University'. For 
Americans, this is a healthy sign ; and Ave do not think that we 
misinterpret it, in regarding it as expressive of dissatisfaction with 
the present state of higher education in this country, and of a desire 
to set to work intelligently to improve it. 



4 Universitii Organization. 

It would be interesting to note the impressions of an educated 
foreigner, especially a German, on contrasting the provision made 
for primary education in the United States, with the great lack of 
it for superior, or University education. AVhile this country is 
far ahead of most European States in respect to the former, it is 
greatly behind them in regard to the latter. The country does 
not lack in the number of its higher institutions of learning. Col- 
leges and so-called Universities, but there is scarcely one of these 
that deserves the name of University. We do not believe that 
this deficiency is explicable on any one of the reasons sometimes 
assigned for it. The comparative youth of the country does not 
present a sufficient cause. Some of the leading German Univer- 
sities, notably that of Berlin (1810), have been founded since the 
close of our Revokitionary war ; and ottr oldest College dates back 
to 1636, nearly sixty years before the foundation of the Univer- 
sity of Halle, and one hundred before that of Gottingen. If the 
sj)arsely settled condition of the country one hundred years ago, 
proved a serious obstacle then, this has long since ceased to be the 
case. Making all due allowance for the still thinly settled por- 
tions of our land, the facilities for communication are great, and 
are yearly increasing. Contrast Germany, with its forty-one mil- 
lions of people and twenty-one Universities, and the United States, 
with nearly forty millions, and not one real University. The 
same ratio to population shoidd give us at least twenty. 

There is, moreover, no lack of individual bequests and dona- 
tions to higher education. The spirit of liberality towards higher 
education has, within the last few years especially, been exhibited 
to a remarkable degree ; but there has been great lack of know- 
ledge as to what constitutes a University, and the amount of money 
necessary to establish one. The gifts to particular institutions 
have generally been small, and have been frittered away upon 
numerous denominational Colleges, which straightway call them- 
selves Universities, without possessing in the remotest degree a 
University organization. States have also contributed to some 
extent for this purpose ; but in the State endowments there has 
been the same lack of knowledge with regard to both points 
above-mentioned. The state of the case with regard to these en- 
dowments has been admirablv set forth in President White's ad- 



University Organization. 5 

dress before the National Educational Association at Detroit; and 
had he but omitted all mention of a ' National University ', he 
would, in our humble opinion, have met the circumstances of the 
case better. The discussion of the establishment of a National 
University would lead us too far ; but we may remark, in pass- 
ing, that we prefer President Eliot's position decidedly ; and do 
not think that the reply of Dr. Hoyt has weakened the force of 
his arguments. President White's paper does not bear directly 
upon the question of a National University, and his arguments 
apply with increased force and diminished objections to State Uni- 
versities. As yet, but one or two genuine attempts at such Uni- 
versities have been made by the States, and that not without aid 
from the Oeneral Government. We may also remark that we are 
no opponents of aid to education from the General Government ; 
but it should be distributed to the respective States, and appropri- 
ated by them to specific purposes. The centralizing tendencies of 
the Government are, unfortunately, already too manifest, and 
there is no necessity for conferring upon it the management of 
the educational interests of the country. Also, the needs of the 
diiferent States are different in proportion to population, present 
educational facilities, and character of pursuits, agricultural, com- 
mercial, manufacturing, or professional. There is no valid reason 
why agricultural and mechanical Colleges shou«ld be established 
and supported by the General Government, and other equally as 
important and necessary departments of education be totally un- 
provided for. 

But this is a digression ; and though it leads to interesting 
topics, the subject is too wide, and forms no part of our present 
purpose. That purpose is, to inquire. What is a University ? ^ 
and what plan of organization is best suited to the needs of 
American education?^ 

1 We think it proper to state liere, tliat the rough draft of this article was 
written before the publication of Dr. Hart's valuable work on the ' German 
Universities ', but we are glad to know that our conclusions coincide so nearly 
with his. 

2 These questions are of peculiar interest at this time, when two American 
Universities are about to be established in the Middle States, convenient of 
access to the whole country, and with endowments, present or prospective, 
which lead us to hope that they will not be allowed to sink into mere Col- 
leges. We refer to the Vanderbilt University, near Nashville, Tenn., and the 
Johns Hopkins University, near Baltimore, Md. 



G Z^nhrrsUu Organization. 

At tlie outset, lot us state that bv ' Universitv ' wo dvi not 
moan Cofhr/c, in tlie Anioric:in sonso of that tonn. The oriT'i^ixA- 
tion of the onlinarv Aniorioan CoHogo is well-known, with its 
four classes. Freshman. Sophonioiv, Junior, and Senior, and its 
eoni'se of study leading- to the degree oi^ Bachelor of Arts, ci^n- 
ferred sometimes with, and sometimes withotit examination, 
either oral or written : and even in cases whore examinations are 
liold. often no stress is laid upon them as tests of a student's 
titnoss for the degree, so that the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 
many of the cnrriculum Colleges has deg-cueratod into a reward 
for four years' attendance u]vmi the c<dlegiate coui'so. with no 
adequate guarantee that the student has protited by the instrue- 
tion given. Some of our best Colleges are nobly endeavoring to 
stem this tide of degrees, and honor be t(^ them for it ; but we 
fear that their efforts will bo in vain. 

It will not bo claimed that the culture given by oven the best 
American Colleges is that which the oountry i>nght to atibrd. 
In many instanees it might bo better, but that the College often 
has to perform High School or Academy work ; such is the laek 
throughout the whole country oi' any woll-org-anizoil system of 
' Upper Schools'. The assertions made of the College will apply 
to the large majority of those institutions ealled ' Universities ' 
in this country, many of which are limited to an aoademiciil 
department : others htivo Schools of I/.iw ami Medicine, one or 
both, connected with them, and call themselves ' Universities', 
Avhilo tlie aeademieal department still I'onsists o{ die old cur- 
riculum, otton inferior to that of many wb.ich si ill retain the more 
unpretentious name of 'College'. 

Wetinil the term ' University * a]iplioil during the Middle Ages 
to the aneiont fcMmdations oi' Paris, Salamanca, Bologna and 
Padua, Oxlonl ami t'ambritlge, Prague and Lcipziii", with their 
four Faculties ol" Law. ^lovlioino. Thoologv, and Philoso}>hv, (,>r 
Arts, and their tliiUnvnt 'nations' among the thousands ot' 
students in attendance, t^n whatever ground the name was 
original) V aj)})lied. the i>rosia'iptive liilo has c'ominuoil to bo used 
antong the nations ot" Knropo in roiorcnce to a school possessing 
these four Faculties tor the A/(///o.s7 acailomical and jn'oiossional in- 
struction; and whatever ohan^cs of or^'atii/ation such institutions 



have undergt>uo in tlitHnvnt vXHiutrioit, and howovov jsi^jvinito 
jKnn HtoKiiy and seieniitio «.Hlm>;\rion. pn^tossJonal iHiiu*;uion 
has lHX\>mo in some, notably in KnglaniK iho liilo is siill nstni lo 
tiosignuite the so]uh>1 wheiv the hUfhe.^ ixiiutition, ajKUt tiM>ni the 
ttvhniiul and pniotieal, and tho nuvst thonniji'h oultinv iho<.\nnnrv 
atVoixls. a\n W obtainvxl. Tho term * highost ' is nndonbiiHlly 
ivlativo. and moans a diftoivnr thing in diiJvixnu wuntrics; 
bill tho dotiniiion of a l^nivoivitv as a Si*ln.x>l for tho hijihost 
liXMionil t-xbii'-aiion in oaoh ]>;ivtiovilav ixnintvv, is novonhi>loss true. 
How rhon do Amoriiiin l^nivorsitios (.xmi|x\iv with tbiviun '.* 
Lot tho annual iiitiux ot' Amoriojin stndonts to Uorman Tni- 
vorsitios sutHvv for a ix^plv. Wo should bo ashanunl tv> ao- 
kuo\vk\liio that iho hiii-host iivnond ixhu^-atiou this i\>untrv oau 
atford. is that ixivon in tho ' ono hnndiwl and ono ' {\) Amorioan 
Univoi"sitios, spooitiinl iu tho annual roport of tho l\ 8. Oom- 
missionor ot" VMuoation. That it dtvs uv>t sutha> for i\w wants 
of tho |x\>plo, for tlio domands of tho oduoat^nl Aniorioau mind, 
tins annual mioTatitm of Innuhwls of Amorioan studouts to 
ibroiiTu. osjvoiaUy (loruiau. Inivorsitios suthoioutly atiosts. Is 
thoiv any romody ihon fortius state of thiuiis? What aiv wo 
going to do about it? Lot us ondoavm' briotly to oxamino tho 
oi'g-ani/ation ot' tho English and (lorinau Inivoi'sities, and soo it' 
wo oau dorivo any hints that will bo sorviooablo to us in iho 
orgaui/atiou ot" an Anun-iv'an luivoisity suiiod to iho prosoni 
demands ot" Amoriv'an oduoaiion. 

Tho Univorsiiios ot" CXxi'ord and (.\imbridgo aro uuit|uo. oaoh 
boing an aggrt^ii'atiou ot" C'oUogos, tho growth ot' oonturios, aiul iho 
wholo >ystoni lux'tiliar to tho ronntfy ilsoll". CKt'ord oonsisis ol' 
twouty-tivo C\>llogos and Halls, and Oambridgo ot" soNrntoon. 
Kaoh t,\>llogo possesses its Faeuhv ol'Arts: and o\on in (ho 
Colleges, tho main instruotion ;> not <;ivon b\- iho (\>Mo^x- {''ro- 
i'iyssov^ (oullod Tnior^. wlio are ro>iiloni lA'Uows ol" \\\c (.'ollom-sl, 
but by private tutors. The rnivorsiiy looliifos art' ot'ton luorolv 
nominal, and tho bniwisiiN- prot'ossorships are oi'ien sineeuros. 
Comments on thesmall nuinberoi'stiidentsaltondin^the pfot'essors' 
loeturos, and the reason assigned thorol"or. mav be t"ound in ]\h". 
Bristed's work j pp. UUi-Un ]. Mr. Hristod says: ' It x^hcniH/^i'iUcy 
are workim:- sv> hard, that the ufoai boilv of roadin<>' men do not 



8 University Organization. 

come to the lectures — working with theh' private tutors (who cor- 
respond to German professors in some respects, as has been 
observed) for the Tripos, the scholarships, or the College Mays. 
If the Greek professor were really called on to teach the Uni- 
versity Greek, he would be lost at once — he could not even attend 
to the hundred, or hundred and twenty men of the three years 
who intend to go out in the classical Tripos. There is no Latin 
professorship in the University.' These few remarks give the 
key to the whole system. It is a system of study under private 
instruction, where the student's private tutor does all the work 
with him ; and as far as he is concerned, neither College nor Uni- 
versity professor need exist until the time comes for his examina- 
tions. Mr. Bristed is altogether wrong in comparing these 
private tutors to German professors, and in this shows that he 
was not acquainted witli the German University system : had he 
ever heard a German professor lecture to more than two hundred 
students together, lie would not have thought it necessary to 
apologize for the Cambridge professor of Greek, although the 
teaching is of a difterent kind from that with which he was 
familiar at Cambridge. A professorship of Latin was added to 
Cambridge University in 1869; but as the Calendar tells us 
(p. 248) that ' The Professor is required to deliver a course of not 
less than ten lectures in each of the two terms in every year ', 
we are not surprised that attendance at professors' lectures 
should be small ; we are only surprised that any University pro- 
fessors at all should be thought necessary, as far as instruction is 
concerned. ^ We have no intention of underrating the scholar- 
ship of the ^ honor-men ' at the English LTniversities ; but we 
think conferring- degrees for the small attainments of the Oxford 

1 As illiistriiling slill furLlier how Englishmen ure wedded to their Uitoiial, 
as opposed to the prot'essoriul, system of teaching, we find tiie following 
item of news going the rounds of llie papers, under the heading, 'Progress 
in the University of Oxford': — ' During the ])ast year, tlie Vice-Cliancellor of 
Oxford issued a "circular letter of inquiry" to tiie schools comprising the 
University, aslving for suggestions regarding a proposed extension of its 
facilities for instruction. In answer to this, replies have heen made by the 
different faculties, all of whicli demand an increase in tlie number of pro- 
fessors and readers. To tiie increase in professorslups. Professor Chandler, 
however, protests, and lie predicts that notliing but incessant squabbling will 
result from any increase in the number of professional lect.ures, which he 
regtirds as a "barbarous mode of teacliing".' Evidently Mr. Matthew 
Arnold is riglit when he styles Oxford and Cambridge ' hauts lycees'. 



University Organization. 9 

' Pass-men ' or the Cambridge ' Poll ', as much to be condemned 
as the indiscriminate American practice. The benefits derived 
from an intellectual training such as that obtained by the student 
who studies for honors, have been well set forth by Mr. Bristed 
in his chapter on ' The Cambridge System of Education in its In- 
tellectual Pesults ', and the thoroughness and accuracy of scholar- 
ship of the ' honor-men ', in both the classical and mathematical 
Triposes, cannot be denied. It might be a question as to whether 
the development was not in most cases one-sided ; but we will 
readily grant that it is better to be thorough and accurate in some 
one thing, to feel one's self complete master of some one subject, 
than to be superficial in many, which is the tendency and result 
of American education. But we do not think the tutorial .sys- 
tem as well adapted to the development of the mind, as the pro- 
fessorial system — but more of that hereafter. 

The function of the leading English Universities, then, seems 
to be to hold examinations and confer degrees, leaving the teach- 
ing to be done by the private tutors attached to the several Col- 
leges. This system is dependent upon the immense endowments 
of the particular Colleges, and the numerous Fellowshi2)s con- 
nected with them, which yield the fortunate holders incomes of 
from one to two thousand dollars per annum. ^ Such prizes un- 
questionably induce hard study, and are the rewards of most rigid 
examinations ; but a system of instruction based on such stimuli 
is only possible where wealtli has already furnished the necessary 
stimuli. 

The preparation for entrance to the English Universities is 
given by the large ' Public Schools ' of Eton, Harrow, liugby, 
&c. (ten of which are fully described by Mr. Staunton), the work 
of whose higher classes, particularly in classics, and, in some of 
them, in modern languages, mathematics, and the sciences, corre- 
sponds to the work of our Colleges. The tutorial system prevails 
here also, the pupil working with his private tutor, as well as 
with his ' Form Master,'. There is no uniformity of plan or 
method, however, as is the case with the German Gymnasia; but 

1 The recent Report of the Universities Commission states that there is 
annually paid in Oxford, to Fellows, the sum of £102,000, and to Scliolnrs, 
Exliibitioners, Prizes, and Examiners, £44,000 ; and in Cambridge, to the 
former, £103,000, and to the latter £33,000. 



10 TJniversily Organization. 

ill all these schools, the classics are the fundamental l)asis of the 
instruction given. As an example, we quote from Mr. Staun- 
ton's chapters on Kugby (pp. 383-4) : ' The time of a boy at 
llugby School thus allotted in the compulsory school-work to 
attendance before his teachers in each week, amounts, on an aver- 
age, to- 
Classical, about 17 hours, including private tuition. 
Mathematics, 3 " \ exclusive of private tuition, 
Modern Languages, 2 '' J ^vhich is variable. 

Total, 22 hours.' 

In the classical time is included one hour per week in history and 
geography, and two hours in Divinity, and two hours in natural 
]>hilosophy may be substituted for modern languages. To this 
must be added time for preparation of ordinary lessons, and time 
for composition, which Avill differ according to the habits and 
abilities of different boys ; but the whole ^ need not be more than 
eight or nine hours' work altogether, on a busy day'. We have 
not the space to go into a detailed account of the English Public 
Schools, but we see that the whole English system of secondary 
instruction is based on a study of the Latin and Greek authors ; 
and this is elue, we think, to two causes, — the traditional study of 
these authors, and the stress laid upon the examinations in them 
by the Universities. x-Vny change in this system of instruction 
Avould have to be inaugurated by the Universities, to whose re- 
quirements the schools would adapt themselves ; but the English 
are well enough satisfied ^vith the results of their system, and 
from the well-known conservative tendencies of the nation, the 
classics will continue to rule in English secondary education. 
The schools, like the Universities, are the products of years of 
accretion, and the whole system is an organic growth, suited to 
the peculiar circumstances of the people among whom it has 
arisen ; and, even if it were desirable, could not be successfully 
imitated in this country. 

J3ut we do not think it desirable. The organization of a Ger- 
man University comes nearer to our ideal. It is an established 
system, not a growth of years, in the same sense as the English 
system ; for many of these Universities, and some of the juost 
celebrated, Berlin, Bonn, and Munich, have been established 



University Organization, ll 

since the beginning of the present century. The system of the 
German University is more universal, applicable to all times and 
all countries, capable of infinite expansion, and suited to embrace 
the whole circle of human knowledge. As the bounds of human 
knowledge increase, — and they are daily increasing, especially 
in respect to the natural and experimental sciencjes, — additional 
professorships may be established, which harmonize with the 
general plan and suit the popular wants. There is no room now 
for ignorance of this system, for it has been clearly and fully set 
forth by Mr. Matthew Arnold, and more recently by Dr. Hart, 
who has done good service in the cause of higher education in 
this country, by his recent interesting and accurate account, — if 
only proper heed will be given to his words. Let us dwell, for 
a few moments, on the organization of a German University.^ 

The University consists of the four Faculties of Theology, 
Law, Medicine, and Philosophy, with three classes of teachers in 
each. Ordinary Professors,^ Extraordinary Professors, and Privat- 
Docenten. Each Faculty elects its own Dean for one year; and 
the ordinary professors elect, for the same period, the Rector of 
the University, who is the administrative head for that year. 
The Academical Senate, or administrative council of the Univer- 
sity, consists of the Rector, ex-Rector, Dean, and one or two 
representatives from each of the four Faculties, and is chosen by 
the ordinary professors, although in some Universities, all the 
ordinary professors are members of the full Senate. This Senate 
also selects, or 'calls', the professors to fill any vacancy in the 
Faculties, or to lecture on any new subject of instruction; but the 
professors receive their appointments from the Minister of Public 
Instruction. The Senate has every inducement to ' call ' the 
most competent man in any particular branch throughout the 
length and breadth of Germany, whether he be ordinary pro- 
fessor, extraordinary professor, or Privat-Docent, at the same 
or any other University. What a contrast to the method of se- 
lection of professors in any American College or University ! 

1 See Matthew Arnold's ' Hi,£!;lier Schools aucl Universities in Germany ', 
chap, vii , and Hart's ' German Universities ', part ii. 

' We prefer tlie terms Ordinary and Extraordinary Professors, to Fnll and 
Assistant Professors, as better suited to the German ^ ordentliche' and ^ ausser- 
ordentUche ', for our word Assistant Professor conveys an erroneous idea when 
applied to the German ausserordentlicMr Professor. 



12 Un'iversif)/ Organizalion. 

Tlio tn'Jinarv pvofe?iSors alone liave any voice in the adniinis- 
tration of the Univer.^itv, enjoy full privileges of professors, ami 
receive in all cases a salary fron\ the State, as part of their eniolu- 
nient. The extraordinary professors are not assistants, but ilo 
not rank as high as the ordinary jirofessors. and do not always 
receive a salary from the State. They have full liberty to lecture 
upon any subject connected M'ith their Faculty, and particularly 
their own specialty, charge the same fees as the ordinary pn^fes- 
sors, and often have more crowded lecture-rooms : from their 
number the ordinary professors are chosen. 

The lield from which the extraordinary professors are taken, 
is the body of Privat-Docenten attached to each Faiulty oi' the 
University. The Privat-Docenten are found only in German 
Universities : they are professors in embrvo, young men. Avho, 
after taking their Doctor's degree, are authorized to teach in the 
particular Faculty for Avhich they apply. Being without an\- 
salarv whatever from the State, they are entirely dependent on 
their lecture-fees, or on the private instruction which they some- 
times give; and this, with the greater stimulus of a reputation to 
make and a position to take before they are called to lie prol'es- 
sors, makes a body of hard-Avorking men, the bone and sinew ol" 
the University. Dr. Hart calls them ' the life-blood of the insti- 
tution', and Mr, Matthew Arnold says, 'the Privat-T^ocent is 
peculiar to Germany, and is the great source of vigor and reno- 
vation to her superior instruction'. On leaving the Gvmnasiuni, 
we may say, the s])ecialty of the future Privat-Docent is already 
chosen. He has already selected the Faculty in which he will be 
enrolled, and for at least three years (six semesters\ sometimes 
longer, devotes his time to hearing lectures bearing on topics 
cognate with that which he has selected, writes his doctor's disser- 
tation as the first-fruits of his studies, follows it up with his in- 
augural disscrtatit)n, by way of examination for his j)osition, and 
if ap]>roved, is licensed by the particular Faculty as Privat-Do- 
cent in that Faculty. 

Thus there is no lack of material for Gei'man professors, and 
the system is one which regulates itself. 

As may have been already inferred, instrut-tiou in the CTcrman 
Universities is entirely by lectures, and a stuilent selects tor him- 



Universifi/ Organization. 13 

self such lectures as he wishes to hear. The professor devotes 
his Avhole time in the presence of the students to lecturing : there 
is no roll-call, no questioning, nothing to prevent his occupying 
the whole hour, after deducting the time necessary for assembling. 
There is also, consequently, no guarantee that the student is pres- 
ent at tlie lectures. He is regarded as master of his own time ; 
and if he does not choose to attend, it is his own loss. He must, 
however, have the professor's signature in his matriculation-book 
(Anmeldungs-Buch) opposite tlie title of the lecture, at the begin- 
ning and at the close of the semester ; for this book is his olScial 
evidence that he has, at least, matriculated for certain courses of 
lectures in each semester ; but where he may have been in the 
meantime, the professor has, of course, no means of knowing. 
This will, undoubtedly, be regarded by our strict constructionists 
as a crying defect in the German University system ; but we nnist 
take into consideration the foct that German University students 
are no longer boys, but young men, and as such, responsible for 
the use made of tlieir tim€, which will be shown by its results at 
the close of their University course ; for, after leaving the Uni- 
versity, the German student must stand a State's examination for 
whatever profession he desires to follow, clergyman, lawyer, phy- 
sician, or teacher, and these examinations ai'e much more rigid 
than the ordinary examinations for the Doctor's degree. 

The number of lectures delivered by each professor is optional, 
and consequently varies greatly ; but each professor is required to 
deliver during the semester a course of public lectures, consisting 
of at least one lecture per week, free of charge. In point of fact, 
a German professor in full work usually delivers two courses of 
private lectures (J. e. those for which fees are charged), consisting 
of four hours each per week through the semester, in addition to 
his public course of one or two hours per week. The fee for such 
a course is one Friedrich's-d'or (five thaler, twenty groschen, 
equal to about four dollars and twenty-five cents gold) per se- 
mester. In addition to the salary received from the State, which 
varies from five hundred to two thousand dollars per annum, ac- 
cording to the reputation of the professor, the professor receives 
these lecture-fees. The number of hearers varies, of course, ac- 
cording to the subject of lecture and the reputation of the professor : 



14 University Organization. 

the most distinguished professors have crowded lecture-roomis ; 
the less distinguished have often not half-a-dozen hearers. We 
attended each of the private courses of the late Professor Haupl 
in Berlin, one on ' the Satires of Horace ', and the other on ' the 
Iliad ', at the former of which the hearers numbered about one 
hundred and fifty, and at the latter over two hundred, so that 
many had only standing-room until the Professor moved to a 
larger lecture-room. Similarly, in Leipzig, we were one of about 
two hundred who attended the lectures of Professor George 
Curtius on ' the Elements of Comparative Grammar '. Per contra, 
we dropped in one morning at the jniblio course of Professor 
Nobbe in Leipzig, and found him lecturing in Latin, on the 
' Oedipus Rex ', to about half-a-dozen students. Lectures are 
still sometimes delivered in Latin, as the students from the 
Gymnasia understand it readily, and many converse in it fluently ; 
but the practice is gradually dying out, except in the explanations 
of authors in the Philological Seminary,^ where the practice varies 
somewhat : Professor Haupt always used German in interpret- 
ing a Latin author; we heard him on Hhe First Book of 
Lucretius ' ; Professor Kirchoff used Latin in interpreting ' the 
Speeches of Lysias ' ; but sometimes, when the students did not 
seem to explain themselves with sufficient fluency or accuracy in 
Latin, he would have recourse to German. 

The number of lectures attended by each student also varies, 
but we may say that a student will usually take about four courses, 
giving him an average of three or four hours per day, or from 
fifteen to twenty per week, during the semester. There are no 
examinations in a German University, except for the degree of 
Doctor in each Faculty. Dr. Hart has described in full the ex- 
amination for the degree of Doctor of Laws, in the University 
of Gottingen. ^ The examination for the degree of Doctor of 
Philosophy, the only literary or scientific degree conferred by a 
German University, does not differ materially in form. The 
candidate writes his dissertation, in Latin if on a subject relating 

1 For an account of the Philological Seniiuaries attached to each Uuiversity, 
see Wiese's ' Veroidnungen und Gesetze', part ii., p. 27, et seqq. 

3 Hart's 'German Universities', part i., chap, xiv., p. 217. [See also 'The 
Nation,' No. 516, for May 20th, 1875.] 



University Organization. 15 

to language or literature, in German if on a subject relating to 
any one of the natural or experimental sciences, the subject being 
selected by the candidate himself. The preparation of this dis- 
sertation involves much hard study, extensive reading on the par- 
ticular point discussed, and the formation of an independent 
opinion, not a ' rehash ' of what somebody else has said ; for on 
this depends chiefly the awarding of the degree. If the dissertation 
is approved, the candidate presents himself for oral examination 
before at least two professors of the Faculty, or of that depart- 
ment of the Faculty in which he wishes his degree, and is ex- 
amined orally by each, on two subjects previously selected by 
himself. If this oral examination is satisfactory, the degree is 
awarded on compliance with certain specified conditions, chiefly 
pecuniary, — for the defence of theses before an audience is a mere 
form, and it is surprising to us that it has not long since been 
abolished. 

The German University system, of which this very brief out- 
line has been given, is, then, framed for the purpose of encourag- 
ing individual and independent study on the part of the students, 
■and persistent and independent labor on the part of the pro- 
fessors. It regards students as young men, and leads them to the 
latest and best thought of modern times on all subjects of in- 
struction; for, unless a professor keeps up with the times in his 
specialty, he is left behind in the race, his lecture-room is empty, 
and the students go to some younger, more wide-awake, and more 
energetic man. A German University professorship is no place 
for stagnation. Reputation, and even pecuniary support itself, 
depend upon the professor's keeping himself abreast of modern 
thought in his particular department. In fact, this latter con- 
dition is but too rigidly enforced ; for we think that some pro- 
vision should be made for the old age of a faithful professor, who 
has served his time, and is naturally overtaken and passed by his 
younger and more energetic brethren. 

Is this, then, the system which we propose to introduce into 
this country ? Would it not shoot far above the heads of even 
our College graduates ? Undoubtedly it would, and we do not 
propose to make haste so fast. This may, however, suffice for 
our model; but before developing our ideas of an American 



16 University Organization. 

University, let us inquire how students are prepared to take 
advantage of this higher instruction ; for that they do take ad- 
vantage of it is unquestionable, and that the present unrivalled 
position of Germany among the nations of the earth in respect to 
higher culture, and consequently in respect to political weight and 
influence, is due to her admirable educational, and especially her 
University, system, no less than to her military organization, is, 
in our humble opinion, also unquestionable. 

Every student entering a German University must bring his 
leaving-certificate [Abgangs-Zeugniss), also called certificate of 
ripeness [Zeugniss der Reife), from some one of the hundreds of 
Gymnasia scattered throughout the Empire. This certifies that he 
has satisfactorily passed the leaving-examiuation [Abiturienten- 
Prilfung), with some one of the affirmations (Praedicate), ' satis- 
factory ', ' good ', ' very good '. Before stating what this leaving- 
examination is, let us look at the organization of the German 
Gymnasium. It is a secondary school, consisting nominally of 
six classess, numbered from the lowest, Sexta, to the highest. 
Prima ; but in reality the two highest, and in some schools the 
three highest, classes have upper and lower divisions, so that we 
have an Ober-prima, and an Unter-prima, etc., and the course 
from Sexta to Ober-prima comprises eight or nine years. The 
boy enters at ten years of age, or thereabouts, and leaves at nine- 
teen ; this is the average. 

The general course of study in the Prussian Gymnasia, which 
may serve as a type of the rest, with the number of hours per 
week assigned to each subject of instruction, is as follows : ^ 

VI. V. IV. III. II I. 

Religion 3 3 3 2 2 2 

German 2l2|2)3 2 3 

Latin 10] 10 j 10) 10 10 8 

Greek 6 6 6 6 

French 3 2 2 2 2 

History and Geography 3 2 3 3 3 3 

Mathematics and Arithmetic 4 3 3 3 4 4 

Physics 1 2 

Natural History 2 2 2 

Drawing 2 3 2 

Writing 3 3 

28 30 30 30 30 30 

1 Wiese's ' Verorduungen und Gesetze ', part i., p. 33. See also M. Arnold's 
Higher Schools and Universities in Germany ', chaps, ii. and iii. 



University Organization. 17 

In the three lower classes one hour per week may be taken from 
Latin and given to German, if necessary ; and in Prima, part of 
the German time is devoted to instruction in the elements of 
Mental Philosophy, and especially of Logic. Instruction in 
Hebrew, which is compulsory only for future students of Theo- 
logy or Philology, is given for two hours weekly in ii. and i. out- 
side of the regular school-hours, which are from 8 to 12 o'clock 
daily, and from 2 to 4 o'clock daily, except Wednesday and 
Saturday, which are half-holidays. Instruction in singing and 
gymnastics is also given outside of the regular school-hours, in 
the former for two, and in the latter for four hours weekly in 
each class. 

It must be borne in mind that this scheme of study is published 
by the Ministry of Public Instruction, and by it all the Gymnasia 
must work ; but the Ministry does not stop here. It publishes 
also the special course of study (from which our limits do not 
permit us to quote,) in each subject for each class ; and for the in- 
troduction of any new text-book, the Director of the Gymnasium 
must obtain the consent of the Provincial School-Commission, 
and if the book has not already been approved as suitable for 
introduction into the Gymnasia, the approval also of the Minister 
of Public Instruction. Doubtless such bureaucracy would not 
suit democratic America ; but it ensures the arrangement of a 
course of study, and the selection of text-books* by com- 
petent authority. The number of hours per week occupied by 
each teacher in class-teaching varies somewhat, but the higher 
teachers (Oberlehrer), who teach from Tertia to Prima, are 
occupied usually from sixteen to twenty hours per Aveek ; the 
ordinary teachers [ordentliche Lehrer), from twenty-two to t^venty- 
four. 

As an illustration of the size of some of the Gymnasia 
situated in large cities, there were in the Friedrich-Wilhelms 
Gymnasium, in Berlin, during the summer-semester 1869, 639 
scholars, taught by a staff of twenty-four instructors, besides the 
teachers of drawing, writing, singing, and gymnastics, making 
twenty-eight in all. The tuition-fees vary greatly, according to 
the situation of the Gymnasium in a small town or city and its 
endowment, and according to the class attended. They may be 



18 University Organization. 

set down for the least expensive from six thaler (four dollars 
and a half in gold) per annum, in Sexta, to seventeen thaler in 
Prima ; and for the most expensive, from thirty-three thaler in 
Sexta to forty-one in Prima. We spent some time in Berlin in 
visiting different Gymnasia, Real-Schulen, and other schools, 
sitting in the class-room for several hours each day and listening 
to the ordinary class-teaching. We were especially struck with 
the earnestness which seemed to pervade the schools, the con- 
sciousness that teachers and pupils came there to work, and, on 
the part of the teachers, that teaching did not consist in hearing a 
specified lesson out of a text-book, but in impressing upon the 
pupil by continual repetition the facts and principles of the 
subject, until the teacher was convinced that they had become 
part of the pupil's mental furniture, were intelligently grasped, 
and would be permanently retained. The eifort seemed to be to 
avoid ' cram ', and to develop mind by close and careful personal 
teaching. The teacher goes for much, and the text-book for very 
little ; with us, the opposite is too often the case. Frequently 
the teacher will use no text-book, and here is room for the power 
of personal magnetism, and the exhibition of individual capacity 
for imparting knowledge and training the mind. The teacher 
himself must then be a man of learning, thoroughly qualified for 
his work; ^and this the Government seeks to ascertain by the 
State's-examination for teachers.-^ No teacher can be appointed to 
a Gymnasium or Real-Sehule in Prussia, who has not received 
from one of the teachers' examining Commissions of the King- 
dom the authority to teach {facultas docendi) ; and the certificate 
is of three grades, according to the character of the examination : 
the first, for the three higher classes [Ober- and Unter-Prima and 
Ober-Secunda) ; the second, for the middle classes ( Unter-Seeunda, 
Ober- and Unter-Tertia) ; the third, for the lower classes {Quarta, 
Quinta and Sexta), and no teacher can be advanced from one grade 
to the other except after examination. 

There is one examining-commission ( Wissenschaftliche Prii- 
fungs- Commission) for each province of the Kingdom, and the 
candidate must present to this Commission his certificate from 

1 Wiese's ' Verorclnungen uud tSresetze', part ii., chap. ii. M. Arnold's 
'Higher Schools, etc.,' chap. v. 



University Organization. 19 

the Gymnasium of ' ripeness ' for University-studies, his leaving- 
certificate from the University, of having completed the academical 
Triennium, an account of his life up to that time, written in 
Latin, and, as the written examination, a dissertation on some 
literary, scientific, or educational subject, assigned by the examin- 
ing-commission, and one or two briefer essays on the subjects in 
which he desires especially to be examined, and which he wishes 
the authority to teach. The four departments, in any one of 
which this authority to teach is granted, are: 1. the philological- 
historical ; 2. the mathematical-scientific ; 3. religion and He- 
brew ; 4. the modern languages. All essays relating to classical 
philology or ancient history are to be written in Latin ; to modern 
languages, in the particular language for teaching which the 
candidate is to be examined ; to other subjects, in German, unless 
the candidate prefers to use Latin, French, or English. We 
cannot give a better idea of the oral examination than by repeat- 
ing the statements kindly made to us by Professor Emil 
Hiibner of the University of Berlin, the examiner in Classical 
Philology of the Commission for the province Brandenburg, which 
holds its sessions in Berlin. Professor Hiibner stated that he 
had no particular scheme of questions or form of examination, 
but usually took that author which the candidate said he had 
especially studied, and he gave specimens of questions he would 
ask about Homer, as an example. These embraced the history and 
criticism of the poems, some account of the principal manuscripts, 
the labors of Aristarchus, the Wolfian theory as enlarged by 
Lachmann, and how the two differed ; also matters connected 
with the dialect, how it differed from the later Ionic, and, in gen- 
eral, when any author was the subject of examination, any ques- 
tions in grammar, metre, literature, antiquities, history, and 
criticism, connected with the author, were liable to be asked. He 
also showed us a pile of dissertations, all in Latin, which had 
been sent him by candidates to be examined before their oral ex- 
amination took place. He himself had assigned the themes months 
beforehand, and some of the dissertations he had had on hand 
for six months, there being so many to be examined by the com- 
mission in Berlin that they had not yet come to these names. He 
stated that the Berlin Commission had 120 or 130 to examine every 



20 University Organization. 

year, and that tliey gave every Monday and Tuesday, from 4 to 
9 p. M., to the examinations, during which time he got through 
with three, or sometimes four, a day ; the Commission in Breslau* 
had about sixty a year to examine ; those in Bonn and Gottingen, 
about fifty each, &c. He read the titles of some of the themes, 
all on classical subjects, and also read his report of the examina- 
tion of one candidate recently, and the certificate which he had 
attached to it. He had found this candidate deficient in prepara- 
tion, and was not satisfied with his treatment of the theme, and 
had given him a certificate of qualification to instruct only in the 
middle classes of the Gymnasium. Strangers are not permitted 
to be present at these examinations, and he generally held them 
as tite-d-tete conversations, though in some places it was customary 
for them to be held before all the members of the Commission ; 
but in Berlin they had so much to do that the examiners were all 
examining at the same time in different parts of the room. The 
regulations for the examination are given by Dr. Wiese in his 
' Verordnungen und Gesetze ' (part ii., p. 74 et seqq.). 

The salaries of teachers^ vary, as in the case of tuition-fees, ac- 
cording to the location of the Gymnasium, in a small town or a city, 
and according to its income or endowment. In Gymnasia of the 
first class the Directors receive 1800 thaler (say 1350 dollars in 
gold), and the teachers from 600 to 1300 thaler, according to 
rank; of the second class, the Directors, 1600 thaler, and the 
teachers, 550 to 1150 ; of the third class. Directors, 1200 to 1400 
thaler, and teachers, 500 to 1000. The municipal Gymnasia 
sometimes pay higher salaries than these ; e. g., the Director of 
the Friedrich-Wil helms Gymnasium in Berlin receives 2750 
thaler, but under his supervision stand a Gymnasium, a Realr- 
SohiUe, a preparatory school, and a female school. These salaries 
seem very inadequate ; but so great is the supply of teachers, and 
the honor of the position, that there is never any difficulty in 
obtaining them. The very frugal mode of living, and the cheap- 
ness of the necessaries of life, except in the largest cities, are, 
doubtless, causes of the small salaries. All the Gymnasia and 
Real-Schiden of each province are under the direct supervi- 
sion of the Provincial School Board, or Commission (Schul- 

MViese's ' Vorordnuugen und Gesetze', part ii., chap. vi. 



University Organization. 21 

Collegium), at least one member of which is charged with the 
special care of the interests of these schools. These Commis- 
sions appoint the teachers in the Gymnasia and Eeal-Schulen, 
subject to the approval of the Minister of Public Instruction, and 
in the case of the Directors, of the King himself. A member 
of the Commission must always be present and preside at the 
leaving-examinations (Abiturienten-Prufungen) of the Gymnasia 
and Real-Schukn. 

Our limits do not permit us to go into further detail with re- 
sjard to the organization and management of German schools, for 
this account of them has been introduced only as it bears upon 
the preparation of students for the Universities. 

After the eight or nine years' study in the course outlined 
above, and under teachers qualified as above-mentioned, the 
student comesat the close to the leaving-examination, which is 
to test his fitness for pursuing studies at the University. Dr. 
Wiese devotes the whole of Chapter vii., Part i., to an account 
of this examination, and Mr. Matthew Arnold describes it fully 
in Chapter iv. But it seems to us that a better idea may be 
given by describing such an examination as actually held, with 
specimens of the work done, as illustrations. Director F. 
Ranke,^ of the Friedrich-Wilhelms Gymnasium in Berlin, was 
so kind as to send us all the papers connected with one of these 
examinations, and allow us to make such extracts as we wished. 
We shall give a summary of their contents, and a few extracts 
from them, stating in advance that no assistance whatever is al- 
lowed in doing any of the written work. 

They consist of nine books, the papers on each subject by the 
several candidates being bound for permanent preservation. The 
books are: (1) Records of the examination and copies of the 
written certificates given to each Abiturient. (2) Latin Exercises. 
(3) Latin Essays. (4) Greek Exercises. (5) Mathematical Prob- 
lems. (6) French Exercises. (7) German Essays. (8) Hebrew 
Exercises. (9) Biographies of each candidate. The records of 
the examination are the minutes of each day, including even the 
names of the teachers who exercised supervision and for what 
length of time, and the exact time at which each student handed 

^Brother of the distinguished historian, Leopold von Ranke. 



22 University Organization. 

up his papers. For writing the Latin Exercise two hours were 
allowed, exclusive of dictation, which occupied forty minutes ; for 
the Latin Essay, five hours ; German Essay, five hours ; Mathe- 
matical Problems, five hours ; Greek Exercise, two hours, exclu-, 
sive of dictation, which lasted thirty minutes ; French Exercise, 
three hours, including fifteen minutes for dictation. For each of 
these examinations a separate day was assigned ; the Hebrew was 
on the same day with the Greek, in the afternoon, and lasted two 
hours. After this record follows a tabular statement of the re- 
sult, the epithets 'good' {gut), 'satisfactory' (befriedigend), and 
' unsatisfactory ' (iinbefriedigend), being attached to each work ; 
the class-standing, and the oral examination, which occurred later, 
being similarly designated. The written examination lasted from 
the 29th of August to the 4th of September (Sunday excluded), 
and the oral examination took place on the 25th of September ; 
each examination was opened with prayer. The two best of those 
who had passed the written examination were excused from oral 
examination, (the whole number standing the written examination 
being thirteen) ; two had withdrawn on account of sickness, and 
of two others who had done very badly, one had determined to 
become a merchant, and the other to return to school another 
semester, so that nine received the 'certificate of ripeness'. The 
oral examination took place in the following order : Beginning 
soon after 8 A. m., to 10:45, Religion; 10:45 to 12:30, Latin; 
12:30 to 2 p. M., Greek ; 2 to 4, a recess ; 4 to 5:30, Mathematics ; 
5:30 to 7, History. The record contains a report of the special 
subjects assigned to each one, and the way in which the questions 
were answered. At the close of the examination there was no 
disagreement about granting certificates to six, but concerning the 
other three, the member of the Provincial School Commission, 
who is always required to be present at the oral examination, de- 
clined to vote, but without protesting against the unanimous de- 
cision of the teachers, who, with himself, constituted the examin- 
ing Board. As a fair representation of what is required in the 
written examination, we shall copy here the Latin Exercise of 
one who received only the epithet ' befriedigend ', and was not ex- 
cused from oral examination. We omit the German dictation, 
and write the Latin translation word for word, being convinced that, 



University Organization. 23 

only after seeing what is actually done, can a correct idea of the 
examination be formed. Professor A. W. Zumpt's corrections 
are enclosed in brackets, and those words or phrases reckoned as 
positive errors are printed in italics : — 

' Disputatio nostra in viri clarissimi vita enarranda versatur ; 
propterea [praeterea] autem ad gravissimas duas res demonstran- 
das magnopere proderit, quae, quamquam in hoc quaestionum 
genere commendari solent atque praecipi, tamen nimis facile 
negliguntur. Etenim cum ea, quae antiquis temporibus facta 
sint, enarrantur [omit e-], quid magis cavere jubemur, quam ne 
ab auctoribus, qui ea tradiderunt, dissentiamus ? Omnino enim 
vix fieri potest ut, prae nostra sapientia impune veteres auctores 
[contemnamus], non solum bonos, quorum neque fidem neque 
scientiam, nisi valde nobis sumus content! [ipsi placemus], accu- 
sare possumus, sed etiam mediocres contemnamus [place above]. 
Tantopere nostri mores atque instituta diversa sunt ab antiquis, 
tanta plurimorum qui Vetera ilia tradiderunt est diligentia ! Er- 
rat enim [etiam] facile judicium, ut, quem non licet, parvi aesti- 
mandura esse judicemus, eoque magis, si ab iis quae ipsi inveni- 
mus [invenerimus] dissentire videtur [videatur]. Exemplo ut 
utar, temporum quibus nostra disputatio occupata est duo tantum 
ampliores [copiosiores] atque perpetui exstant narratores, Dion 
Cassius et Appianus. Quorum uterque, quod graece scripsit a 
nonnullis conteranitur, quasi Romanas res non intellexerint, 
praesertim si qua in re Ciceroni et Caesari contradicere videantur. 
Nos autem [vero] non solum Appianum, cujus bellorum civilium 
historia plerumque laudari solet, sed etiam Dionem Cassium in 
rebus Caesaris a nobis fidelem ducem inventum esse confi[te]bi- 
mur, accuratissimum, diligentissimum, rerum in ordine et in 
tempore constituendo, in quo si quid offendebamur, ubi accuratius 
quaesivimus, intelleximus id non illius sed nostra fieri culpa. Ac 
profecto, si recte judicare volumus [volemus], constituemus ilium, 
qui maximis imperaverit exercitibus, plurimas gesserit res et 
[omit] in senatoriis muneribus consenuerit, in Caesaris rebus 
enarrandis errare et noluisse neque potuisse. Qua re si quo loco 
veteres auctores a nobis [inter se] non dissentiunt (quod raro fit, 
neque saepius recte, quam ipsi hodie in iis, quae vidimus, quae 
[vel] audivimus, dissentimus) sed dissentire videntur, aequum 



24 Universiitj Organization. 

est non, nos existimare alteram [utram] errasse, sed, si fieri po- 
test [possit] rationem aliquam invenire, qua eorum narrationera 
conjungere possimus [conciliemus], turn scientiae nostrae diffi- 
dentes, examinare, iium ea dixerint quae dixisse videntur [vide- 
antur]. Etenim vix credi potest, quam late hoc vitium scrip- 
torum veteruni falso intelligendorum pateat ad quot quantosque 
ducat errores. Quae [quod] minus ex [omit] negligentia fit 
nostra quam ex [omit] rei ipsius difficultate.' 

To this exercise Professor Zumpt has appended : ' In levioribus 
rebus nonnunquam erratum, sed apparet ea quae sufficiat Latini- 
tatis scientia ', and then given the Praedicat, ' befriedigend '. 

We omit the Greek Exercise, only stating that Director Ranke 
wrote beneath it ' befriedigend, wie in den gewohnlichen Leis- 
tungen. Hier und da tritt eine gewisse Gewandtheit.' 

The four mathematical problems assigned were as follows : 

' 1. A triangle has the three sides a=d^. 6=10', Cr=17'. How 
great is the area of that triangle whose angles are the points of 
contact of the circle inscribed within the given triangle ? 

' 2. The known lines AB:=a and AJ):^b stand perpendicular 
to each other. From B a point moves in the direction AB with 
the constant velocity g. At the same time from D a point moves 
with the velocity /' What direction must D take in order to 
meet the point B ? — 

' 3. Solve the equations : — 

_ y' 
x^Jf~y^ A^ 2 -j- — =(^ and 

x^ 

if 
X* — 2y* -j-* — =b 

X* 

' 4. Which of the spheres whose centres lie on the surface of a 
given sphere has within this sphere the greatest surface ? ' 

The same young man solved all of these problems, but with 
some errors, and only received the Praedicat, ' befriedigend' . 
Some who solved only three of them also received the same 
Praedicat. 

The subject of the Latin essay is selected by the Provincial 
School-Commission from several subjects presented by the class- 



University Organization. 25 

instructor, and it must be sufficiently well-known to the students 
from class-instruction to enable them to treat it intelligently. 
The four subjects forwarded to the School-Commission were as 
follows, of which the third was chosen, the seal of the envelope 
containing it not having been broken until the examination com- 
menced : 

'1. Illustretur quod Cicero (Phil. ii. 36) ait timorem non 
diuturnum esse officii magistrum. 

' 2. Macedonum imperium quomodo et instituttim et eversum 
sit exponatur. 

' 3. Duas fuisse artes apud Romanes, quae locarent hominem 
in amplissimo dignitatis gradu, unam imperatoris, alteram oratoris 
boni. 

' 4. De imperatoribus Romanis, qui Juliae gentis fuerunt.' 

These essays are written on the German official paper, right 
side, it being folded in the centre, and the left constituting the 
margin. They fill six such pages, making about three pages large 
cap paper. They are original essays written in Latin, as the 
student does not know beforehand what particular subject will be 
given, and are intended as an exercise in Latin style. The 
young man above-mentioned received for his essay the following 
Praedicat : ' Emendata haec sunt coloremque Latinum habent, 
nee res absurde expositae. Gut. Zumpt.^ 

The German essay is about the same length, and is similarly 
written. The following subjects were presented, of which the 
tJm-d was selected : 

' 1. Lessing's services to German prose. 

' 2. Why do we love the Odes of Horace ? 

' 3. Is labor really a curse ? ' 

The following Praedicat was given for this essay : ' M. hat 
das Thema richtig aufgefasst. Der Ausdruck ist fliessend und im 
Ganzen korrekt. Nur hatte M. zwischen den ersten und zweiten 
Theil eine Briicke schlagen sollen : befriedigend. Preuss. — Clas- 
senleistungen, befriedigend.' 

The French exercise was the re-translation of somewhat more 
than a page of cap-paper, translated from Pagaud, ' Histoire de 
FrMeric le Grand ', and M. received the following Praedicat : 
' Diese Arbeit ist von nennenswerthen Versehen ganz frei, und 



26 University Organization. 

kann als " vorziiglich " bezeichnet werden. Classenleistungen, 
vorziiglich. Imelmann.' 

In the oral examination M. received ' nicht befriedigend' in 
Religion, and ' befriedigeoid' in the other subjects. In Latin he 
was assigned for translation, Cicero — De Officiis, ii. 13, and in 
Greek, Iliad ix. 1-22. In Mathematics, he was questioned on 
the method of solution of Equations of the 1st and 2d degrees ; 
and in History, on the wars between the Greeks and Persians, 
the time of Constantine, and on the history of Germany during 
the Middle Ages. 

The 'Certificate of ripeness' [Zeugniss der Beife) includes: 
*I. Conduct and Industry; II. Attainments in (1) Religion, 
(2) German, (3) Latin, (4) Greek, (5) French, (6) Mathematics, 
(7) Physics, (8) History and Geography, and (9) Hebrew, for 
future students of Theology.' 

M.'s certificate concluded thus : ' Die unterzeichnete Commis- 
sion hat ihm demnach, da er jetzt das Gymnasium verlasst uni 
Militdr zu studiren, das Zeugniss der Reife ertheilt und entlasst 
ihn mit ihren besten Segenswiinschen.' Here follow the names 
of the Commission and date of dismissal. 

From this sketch of the course of study in the Gymnasia, and 
of the Abiturienten-examination, (which we have described in 
detail, because of its bearing on University studies), it may readily 
be seen that the classics are regarded as the basis of mental 
culture and training in the German Gymnasia, but not so exclu- 
sively as in the English schools ; that other branches of a liberal 
education are associated Avith them, such as the vernacular, 
French, history and geography, physics, natural history, and the 
elements of mental philosophy ; and that less time is given to 
mathematics than in our schools, and smaller attainments made 
in it. With regard to this course of study, we asked Director 
Ranke whether ten hours a week was not too much time to give 
to Latin. He thought not, and strongly approved of the Latin 
essay in the Abiturienten-examination as showing an excellent 
intellectual training, and thought it necessary to give so much 
time to Latin in order to attain this end. To inquiries with 
regard to the small amount of mathematics taught in the Gym- 
nasia, he thought it sufficient for the purpose in view, and said 



University Organization. 27 

that the large majority of the students found that amount difficult 
to compass : it is a well-known fact that mathematics is a great 
bugbear to Gymnasiasten, and they generally know very little 
about it. With regard to the number declared 'unreif after the 
Abiturienten-examination, Director Ranke said that they fre- 
quently had classes of twenty in which no one was so declared, 
and that he could not say that the average number declared 
' unreif amounted to as many as ten per cent., though in the 
present Prima of 17 perhaps three or four would fail to pass. 

We have frequently used the expression ^Heal-Schule ', which 
needs further brief explanation. The Real-Sdvule is exclusively 
a German school of Prussian origin, organized into classes like 
the Gymnasium, but with a very diiFerent object in view, and 
consequently a very different course of study and Abiturienten- 
examination. No Greek is taught in the Real-Schule, less time is 
given to Latin than in the Gymnasium, more to German, mathe- 
matics, and especially the natural sciences ; and English is taught 
in the higher classes as well as French. The Gymnasia are 
defined by Dr. Wiese as the proper preparatory institutions for 
the Universities, and consecj[uently they are arranged so as to lay 
the foundation for higher intellectual culture. The Real-Sohuleii 
have as their object, to give sufficient general preparation for 
practical callings, in distinction from the professions, and for 
entrance into the higher technical schools. Only students with 
the ' certificate of ripeness ' from the Gymnasia can be matriculated 
as students with full privileges in any faculty of the University, 
or appear for examination for a degree, or for the State's-exam- 
ination in any profession. The ' certificate of ripeness ' from a 
Real-Schule admits to the military 'service, but not to the 
Universities or the professions. 

Of the 2310 matriculated students attending the University of 
Berlin during the winter-semester of 1869-70,^ 875 were enrolled 
in the Philosophical Faculty, and of this number 644 were native 
Prussians; of these 588 entered with the 'certificate of ripeness', 
none with the ' certificate of unripeness ', and 56 without a cer- 
tificate, but all such occupy an inferior position as students ; thus 

^ Amtliches Veizeicliniss des Personals uud der Studireudeu auf der Kouigl. 
Friedrich-Wilhelms Universilat zu Berliu. Auf das Wiuteriiulbjala- vou 
Michaelis 1869 bis Ostern 1870, p. 55. 



28 University Organization. 

more than nine-tenths of the students of a German University 
enter with a ' certificate of ripeness ' from some one of the nu- 
merous Gymnasia. In this way then the German Abiturient is 
prepared to profit by University studies strictly so-called, and his 
fitness is tested, not at the University, but at the Gymnasium 
where he has received his preparatory education. 

Had we in this country any well-organized system of prepar- 
atory schools or Colleges (for the upper classes of the German 
Gymnasia correspond more nearly to our Colleges than our schools, 
and even give higher instruction in classics), we might adopt a 
similar leaving-examination to test the student's fitness for Uni- 
versity studies. But lacking such a thorough system of ' upper- 
schools ' or Colleges, how shall we plan our University to suit the 
needs of American education? If we cannot transfer to our 
country the German system, can we not at least imitate it, and 
adapt it to our wants ? Our entire system of higher instruction 
is based on too low a plane, and for this the Colleges are greatly 
to blame. Throughout the whole country we see Colleges doing 
preparatory work ; and as a consequence, lowering the character of 
their graduates, until the ordinary B. A. degree has ceased to 
carry any honor with it, and B. A.'s are annually turned out 
from our Colleges almost entirely ignorant of the very elements 
of a liberal education. There is no unity of plan of instruction, 
not only in the private, but even in the public High Schools and 
Academies in any single State, and consequently there can be no 
uniformity of preparation for collegiate instruction. It is only 
by enforcing a rigid system of entrance-examinations that the 
Colleges have it in their power to relieve themselves of the 
necessity of doing preparatory work. By placing the standard 
for entrance sufficiently high, and sternly rejecting all who do not 
come up to the required standard, the good effect upon the pre- 
paratory schools will soon be seen in elevating their standard, 
and in furnishing candidates for admission to College sufficiently 
well prepared. So long, however, as we have so many weak 
Colleges, with meagre endowments and ill-paid Faculties, and so 
long as the present competition for students exists, a reform such 
as that suggested, must necessarily be slow in its operation, and 
could only be carried out by the wealthier Colleges. As may 



University Organization. 29 

readily be seen, we do not propose to abolish any of the Colleges, 
although we have no doubt that there are too many in some parts 
of the country, and that consolidation would be a benefit ; nor 
do we propose to turn many of them into Universities ; but we 
should like them to do better work, and to this end cannot some 
external pressure be brought to bear upon the Colleges from the 
Universities of the future ? Let it be laid down as a primary 
truth, which all would-be founders of Universities would do well 
to bear in mind always, that no University should be established 
with insufficient funds, or dependent for support upon the num- 
ber of its students; otherwise self-interest will very naturally 
influence its course, and make it lenient in the admission of 
students. But once placed above pecuniary want, there is no 
limit to the grade of instruction the University can bestow. The 
circumstances of American education being as they are, and so 
different from the German, there being no power of enforcing the 
same or an equivalent leaving-examination from the different 
Colleges, the remedy must rest with the University ; and to bring 
this external pressure to bear upon the Colleges, a rigid entrance- 
examination to the University should be established, therein 
widely differing from the German Universities, where all is free ; 
but the difference is more apparent than real, for their entrance- 
examination, as stated above, has already been held by the Gym- 
nasia, all organized on the same plan, furnishing the same grade 
of instruction, and examining in accordance with the prescribed 
regulations from the Ministry of Public Instruction. 

After settling the fact that we must have for the University a 
rigid entrance-examination, in order to secure students prepared 
for University studies, and to prevent the waste of power in both 
teaching and learning, a most important question of organization 
arises, one which has been discussed so frequently and warmly in 
educational conventions and journals, and elsewhere, as to the cur- 
riculum or the elective system. A University, from its very 
nature, cannot have a curriculum ; its various studies must be 
elective, or it does not fulfil the office of a University ; the nearer 
it approaches to a Procrustean curriculum, the farther it departs 
from the University idea, and degenerates into the ordinary 
College. The method of instruction by the professor must be 



30 University Organization. 

free, and the liberty of selection by the student must be free also. 
Here we must imitate the German method, where liberty of 
teaching and of learning are both free as the air. The leading 
departments of human knowledge being represented in our ideal 
University, and young men entering to learn what suits their 
individual needs, not to have their minds cast in a common 
mould, each must be free to select what suits his purposes, or what 
constitutes for him a liberal education. This applies chiefly to 
the Faculty of Philosophy, or academical department of the Uni- 
versity ; for we recognize the fact that the true idea of a Univer- 
sity requires, in addition. Faculties of Law and Medicine, 
exclusively professional departments of study. We wish that we 
could add a Faculty of Theology too ; but that is, in this comitry, 
out of the qiiestion, for here we do not study Theology as a 
science, apart from denominational tenets ; but owing to sectarian 
differences, this important subject must be relegated to the various 
denominations. We believe that there is sufficient room in the 
Christian religion for a Faculty of Theology in an unsectarian 
University ; where Theology should be studied as a science, and 
where wider views of religious truth and doctrine might be 
obtained than in a denominational theological seminary ; but we 
cannot stay to discuss this subject. 

If our University system is to be elective, what need, some 
may ask, for the entrance-examination upon which so much stress 
has been laid ? To certify the authorities that the young man is 
prepared to profit by the higher instruction given in whatever 
subject he proposes to study. The course being elective, each 
department will be necessarily independent of every other, and 
each professor, or body of professors, in the department will hold 
his, or their, own entrance-examination. Of course this involves 
abolishing the class-system of the ordinary Colleges, which is of 
doubtful expediency even in the Colleges, and is altogether unsuited 
to the plan of a University. The only so-called class there consists 
of the number of young men assembled for instruction under 
each professor, which almost necessarily varies with each indi- 
vidual professor. The entrance-examination will prevent the 
necessity of the professor's lowering his instruction to suit the 
unprepared. It will, for a time, fare hardest with the professors 



University Organization. 31 

of the different natural and experimental sciences, for until schools 
exist where at least elementary instruction in science is given, 
these examinations must be necessarily meagre as compared with 
those in other departments ; but the tendency will inevitably be 
to cause the establishment of such schools. Did all of our Colleges 
possess a scientific course, thoroughly taught, leading to the degree 
of Bachelor of Science (as some of them already do), as well as 
a literary course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the 
necessary preparation might be given, and we might hope for 
advanced University courses in scientific as well as literary 
studies. 

The elective system requires then this complete independence 
of departments, or schools, and of each professor within the 
department, but does not involve conflict of teaching between 
different professors. It tends to subdivide and specialize instruc- 
tion, and in that way make it more thorough, for each professor 
is then better able to master his particular subject, and the student 
is sure of being led to the latest and best thought in that subject. 

Examining our plan of a University more carefully, certain 
questions arise which require an answer. First, at what age 
should students be admitted to the University ? We would not 
fix an arbitrary limit, but would not advise students under 
eighteen years of age to enter upon a University course. If we 
examine the statistics of the German Gymnasia, Ave shall find 
that an Abiturient very rarely leaves a Gymnasium so young as 
eighteen, and the average age is between nineteen and twenty, 
while the statistics of the Universities will show a higher average 
age of entrance. The capacity to profit by the instruction should 
depend upon passing the entrance-examination, and not upon a 
particular age ; but the instruction should be framed for young 
men of at least eighteen years of age, and those below that age 
discouraged from entering. 

Another important question that presents itself is, whether the 
possession of the ordinary Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science 
degree should relieve from the necessity of passing the entrance- 
examination. To this we should answer, no ; for, there being no 
common system on which these degrees are awarded, they do not 
always carry with them sufficient guarantee of preparation for 



32 University Organization. 

entrance upon University instruction. This is one objectionable 
feature of the proposed bill for ' a National University ', but, as 
we have already said, w^^ regard that whole scheme as objection- 
able on many accounts. It is a well-known fact that young men 
often leave the lower classes of a College better prepared than 
many who serve their time and carry away their diplomas. 

When our University became established in public opinion, it 
would r'Hct upon the Colleges; for it would be esteemed a 
dishonor for a College graduate to fail in his entrance-examina- 
tion. The question might naturally be asked, would not the 
tendency of this be to deter College graduates from entering the 
University ? At first it would probably do so ; but the object of 
a University must ever be borne in mind, to furnish, in each 
department of knowledge, the highest instruction which the 
country is capable of giving, and of receiving, and only those 
who desire this instruction would apply for it. The main defect 
in American education is, that it is hurried through too fast. 
Many leave school and College too soon, and to this is due the 
lack of eminent scholars in the country, and of well-educated 
men in the different professions. In many instances, those who 
have attained eminence have done so in spite of their early 
education, and not by reason of it. Whatever would have a 
tendency to remedy this notable defect would be a national 
blessing ; and we firmly believe that the establishment of Univer- 
sities giving instruction of the highest grade in all departments, 
affording the opportunity to all of learning the best thought on 
all subjects of instruction, and obviating the necessity of going 
abroad for this purpose, would eventually produce the desired 
effect. We are not so credulous as to imagine that a few years 
would suffice to effect this. Perhaps the next generation might 
see some of the results ; but unless a beginning is made, we shall 
continue to go on in the same hum-drum path, and our most 
advanced Universities will continue to be but a sort of Colleges, 
competing for students with the ordinary Colleges, and furnishing 
instruction but little, if at all, superior to theirs. We do not 
expect many students to attend an institution of this sort at first, 
and therefore we have said that it should be abundantly endowed, 
either by public or private benefactions, so as to be placed above 



University Organization. 33 

all want. There is too great a disposition in the country to judge 
of the value of an institution by the mere number of its students, 
not by the character of its work and the best men that it turns 
out. Let the trustees and faculty of such an institution as we 
are describing be content to have few students, especially at first, 
and let them rest assured that the impression made by these 
few upon the culture of the country will, in time, abundantly 
compensate for lack of numbers. The true test of the worth 
of a University is excellence of scholarship, and not number of 
students. 

Two other questions with regard to the proposed plan present 
themselves, and though of minor detail, are still of sufficient im- 
portance, in our opinion, to justify notice. 

First, should the plan of the German Universities be followed, 
and the professor always lecture the whole hour without ques- 
tioning of any sort, and without use of text-book of any kind ? 
With regard to the first branch of this question, it is, doubtless, 
true that for comparatively mature minds, and with the sole ob- 
ject of stimulating independent study, this plan may work well. 
There is less compulsion about it, and the professor has the ad- 
vantage of economizing time for lecture. But with students as 
prepared by our American schools and Colleges, we think it best 
to adhere to the system of questioning on the previous lecture, to 
render certain the mastery of its truths, and, moreover, because 
we think the method of careful questioning tends to develop 
thought better than when the mind is a passive recipient of the 
truths uttered by the lecturer. The judicious lecturer need not 
make this a meiiB'' parrot-like repetition of his own words, but 
may make it, the vehicle for discovering whether the student has 
mastered the principles, as well as the facts, of the subject dis- 
cussed. ...iftWe are aware that more may be said in favor of dis- 
pejjsifig with all questioning of young men ; but, balancing the 
advantages of each method, we prefer to adhere to the practice of 
questioning, at least in the present stage of American education. 
This does not by any means imply a numerical valuation of the 
answers given, as is at present the custom in most of our Ameri- 
can Colleges ; for this we would dispense with entirely, except in 
the case of written examinations, considering the marking system 
altogether unsuited to an advanced stage of instruction. 



34 University Organization. 

With regard to the second branch of our question, full liberty 
must be given to each professor, for he alone is able to determine 
what is best for his own wants and those of his students ; but, for 
many reasons, every advantage should be offered, and all due in- 
fluence used, to cause the adoption of the lecture system as op- 
posed to the text-book system. It stimulates the professor to 
labor, causes him to prosecute researches to the furthest extent, 
will not let him rest satisfied with the dicta of any text-book, but 
after searching through and weighing all authorities, enables him 
to form his conclusions, which he should frankly state to his stu- 
dents, with the arguments on which they are based, and with 
those of his opponents, so as to enable the student to form an in- 
dependent opinion. It stimulates the student by requiring his 
closest attention, excites his eagerness to catch the professor's 
words, facilitates his power of transmitting to paper what comes 
to him through the ear — an acquirement by no means to be des- 
pised — furnishes him with a compendious statement of principles 
and arguments, often superior to any available text-book, and, 
best of all, encourages him to investigate and examine for him- 
self, and form his own conclusions. It thus encourages inde- 
pendent study, and illustrates the magic power of the spoken, as 
opposed to the written, word; Still, cases may arise where the 
printed text-book may be necessary, especially in mathematical 
and physical science, when the professor may utilize time to ad- 
vantage by reference to the printed form, so that we think this 
matter should be left in the hands of each professor. The ten- 
dency, however, of American education is to lay too much stress 
on the mere text-book, and make it do duty in place of personal 
teaching of the professor. Our teachers, even in Colleges, are 
too often not qualified to teach without the text-book, in this 
showing a marked difference from the Germans. The better pre- 
pared the professor, the less will be the necessity for text-book 
instruction, and it is at this that we should aim, to secure men 
thoroughly competent in their respective branches of instruction, 
who have given years of study to the subject they are called upon 
to teach, and who possess thorough knowledge of the subject and 
ability to instruct in it. Our University should be so endowed 
that salary would be a matter of minor consideration, and it 



University Organization. 35 

sliould be able to command the best available knowledge in each 
separate subject of instruction. 

Our second question is, whether we shall imitate the Germans 
and dispense with written examinations on the subjects of the 
professors' lectures; or imitate the English, and appoint examiners 
distinct from the lecturers, who shall examine on the various 
subjects of study pursued in accordance with a prescribed course, 
without regard to the particular lectures attended by the student ; 
or shall we adopt a plan of our own ? We think that there are 
objections to both the German and English methods, and with 
our University approximating more nearly to the German plan, 
though diifering from it in some essential particulars, we would 
superadd rigid written examinations for degrees on the subjects 
of study embraced in the professors' teaching. This would insure, 
on the part of aspirants, thorough attention to the professors' in- 
struction ; and these examinations should not be limited simply to 
the professors' lectures, but opportunity should be given for test- 
ing the results of independent study on the part of students, those 
passing subsidiary examinations taking, of course, higher rank. 
The German plan of non-examination does not necessitate the 
study of the lectures, or of the subject apart from them, but gives 
room for many drones among the workers. The results of the 
teaching cannot be tested in individual cases; and while this plan 
is suited to the German system, where professional examinations 
supervene upon attendance at the Universities, it is not so well 
suited to the requirements of American education. We have 
already noticed the German State's-examination [Staats-Prufung) 
for teachers, and, as above-mentioned, similar professional ex- 
aminations must be passed by candidates for admission to the pro- 
fessions of Law, Medicine, and Theology, so that there the State 
renders it unnecessary for the University to hold examinations, 
but ' Young America ' would hardly submit to such an abridg- 
ment of ' civil rights ' ; so that our University must hold its own 
examinations in each department. 

The English plan of examiners distinct from the lecturers is 
open here to the insuperable dijfficulty of procuring such exam- 
iners ; it is part and parcel of the English system of growth, 
which cannot be transplanted. The reserve of resident Fellows 



36 University Organization. 

of the diiferent Colleges in the Universities furnishes an inex- 
haustible supply of examiners in special subjects. But it is, in 
our opinion, liable to still more fatal objections than the one 
mentioned. Only the professor who teaches a class, knows the 
calibre and attainments of the class, what it ought and what it 
ought not to attempt, and only he can frame his examination so 
as to afford a fair estimate of what the class has and has not 
learned. If a conscientious man, and this must be taken for 
granted, he will not place his standard too high or too low ; and 
against the latter, professional rivalry and esprit de eorps will 
also act as a preventive. 

It has often been urged against the system of written exam- 
inations, that it tends to encourage ' cram ', and so dwarfs and 
cripples the mind, besides subjecting some minds to constraint and 
over-exertion. We think that too much has been made of this 
objection, which is, to a certain extent, true ; but the same objec- 
tion holds good against a rigid oral examination. We need no 
further evidence of this than Professor Hart's description of the 
German oral examination for the degree of Doctor of Laws.^ 
But, we would ask, can anything that is worth knowing, be 
learnt without an active exercise of memory ? and in the process 
itself of memorizing, where it is not mere verbatim, mechanical, 
by-rote repetition, are not other powers of the mind, comparison 
judgment, reasoning, brought also into active exercise? More- 
over, the system itself of lecturing, especially when combined 
with careful questioning upon the successive lectures, tends to 
obviate the necessity of 'cramming' for examinations. On nearly 
all subjects there is a mass of detail which is valuable knowledge, 
especially to the accurate scholar in the particular branch, but 
which requires a greater effort of memory than the general prin- 
ciples and prominent facts of the subject, and this constitutes the 
material for so-called ' cram ', the injurious effects of which have 
been greatly exaggerated. Again, the judicious professor has it 
in his power so to select his examination-questions, as to avoid 
the necessity of 'cram', and students readily accommodate them- 
selves to the mental habits of their particular professors. Even 
allowing this to be a minor objection, the system has so much to 

^ Hart's ' German Uuiversities', part i., chap. xvi. 



University Organization. 37 

recommend it, that its advantages counterbalance its disadvan- 
tages. It throws the student upon his own resources, and is in 
itself a wonderful means of mental training. It enables him to 
present in clear, concise, and compact form, his knowledge of the 
subject, and teaches him better than any other method, to estimate 
rightly his own deficiencies, and to set himself to supply them. 
It teaches him to think accurately, to divest his thoughts of all 
extraneous matter, and his statement of them of all superfl^uous 
verbiage, and to concentrate his attention upon the one subject in 
hand. The course of study in preparation for such a written 
examination as we refer to, constitutes most excellent mental dis- 
cipline. Besides its advantages in itself, such an examination 
affoi'ds the justest and most reliable means of judging of a stu- 
dent's knowledge of a subject, of his mental capacity, and espe- 
cially of his general mental attainments. To students without 
previous training in this method, it sometimes requires practice 
to accommodate themselves to it ; but before reaching the final 
examination for degrees, sufficient opportunity should be afforded 
by the professor, for each student to familiarize himself with it. 
Finally, it is also, in our opinion, the most accurate and reliable 
method for awarding honors or degrees, as tests of excellence in 
any subject. 

Summing up, in brief, what seems to us a suitable plan for 
organizing a true American University, we should require that it 
possess the three Faculties of Law, Medicine, and Philosophy, or 
Arts, with a sufficient number of professors in each to teach 
thoroughly the various subjects of instruction. We cannot hope, 
in the beginning, to rival our German brethren,^ but we can make 
haste slowly and according to the needs of our people. In the 
Faculty of Philosophy, or academical department, each depart- 
ment of study should be separate from every other, whether 
taught by one or several professors ; and where several professors 
are employed in one department, their subjects of instruction 
should be different, so as to constitute the widest field for selec- 
tion. As closely connected with this plan of organization, the 
system should be elective, each student choosing those subjects of 

^ The University of Berlin has 178 Instructors, tliat of Leipzig 141, while 
that of Vienna has 236. See Hart's ' German Universities', part ii., chap, 
viii. 



38 University Organization. 

study, and those particular courses of lectures in each, which 
best suit his own mental needs. But to prevent lowering the 
grade of instruction, whatever previous preparation is required 
to enter with advantage upon each course of study, should be 
ascertained by a rigid entrance-examination, and those found un- 
prepared, should not be merely ' conditioned ', as at present in 
most of our Colleges, but not allowed to enter until all deficiencies 
are made up. The good effect of this system, in raising the 
standard of the schools and Colleges which prepared students 
for the University, would be apparent in a short time. It would 
also show itself in the age and maturity of mind of those stu- 
dents who applied for admission to the University, would prevent 
it from being the rival of the ordinary Colleges, and enable it 
to become a suitable complement to collegiate instruction. 

With regard to the system of instruction pursued within the 
University, that of instruction by lecture should be encouraged, 
and the text-book system discouraged ; but, diflPerent from the 
German Universities, questioning upon the preceding lecture 
should follow at the next succeeding lecture. Another material 
point of difference from the German plan, would be the written 
examinations for degrees, held at the close of each course of lec- 
tures required for the degree, with subsidiary examinations de- 
signed to test the independent study of those who presented them- 
selves for such examinations. The written-examination plan 
assumes, that in this way a greater amount of study will be be- 
stowed, and a better estimate of the student's knowledge of his 
subjects of study will be gained, than in any other way. It also 
assumes that, when combined with questioning on the lectures as 
delivered, it affords a better guarantee for avoiding ' cram ', and 
becomes a most important adjunct in the mental training of the 
student. 

We have so far omitted to notice the question of ' endowment 
of research ' at the University, which is at present agitating the 
educational world in England, especially since the publication of 
the Report of the Universities Commission. If endowments are 
to be given for the prosecution of scientific researches, they should 
be given in connection with the Universities ; but we think the 
German system has heretofore produced greater results than the 



University Organization. 3 9 

English. Each German professor considers that his professional 
reputation places him under obligation to prosecute researches in 
his particular department : his zeal for pure science ( Wissenschaft) 
acts as a powerful stimulus ; and the fact that he is teaching a 
body of young men, to whom he can give the results of his re- 
searches in the first instance, is another powerful stimulus. No 
professor should be so burdened with the work of teaching, as to 
deprive him of time to prosecute scientific researches. It is im- 
portant to the well-being and reputation of a University that the 
world should, from time to time, see the fruits of its labors, as 
well in the additions to human knowledge made by its professors, 
as in the culture of the young men whom it sends out. Let 
then, the endowments act as an additional stimulus to the labors 
of the University professors, and not take the place of other 
stimuli which already exist ; and let us not have two classes of 
professors, one for instruction, and one for research. The com- 
bination of these two objects in a University can readily be 
secured, and their successful prosecution will further the best 
interests of the country. Our limits do not permit us to discuss 
this subject further, but we recognize the importance of such 
endowments, and their true place in a University organization. 
The last question which presents itself is a practical one, and 
we shall notice it very briefly. Can we modify the plan of any 
existing Universities or Colleges, or organize new Universities, 
so as to attain the objects which we have hurriedly attempted to 
set forth ? With regard to the new ones, if they are sufficiently 
endowed to be able to wait patiently for students, it seems to us 
that the most formidable obstacle is removed, and all the rest 
depends upon the views and acts of those who have the manage- 
ment of these Universities. With regard to existing institutions ; 
greater difficulties lie in the way. The endowments of the large 
majority are meagre, and they are dependent for support upon 
the numbers of their students. Moreover, the force of tradition 
has to be overcome, and the conservatives will maintain that the 
country is not yet ready for such a University as we have in view. 
But if a beginning is not made, we shall wait forever ; and it 
seems to us that now is a suitable time for such a beginning. 
We could name several institutions in New England, the Middle, 



40" Univefsity Organization. 

Southern, and AVestern States, which seem to ns to have already- 
attained a sufficiently prominent position in the country, to 
warrant their gradual development into real Universities. Some 
of these have of late years taken steps forward, and perhaps, as 
fast as the resources at tljeir command, and the conservative 
sentiment at their backs, will permit ; but we are still far short 
of tlie mark. We shall never retain in this country the best 
scholars among our young men, and stop the annual migration 
to German Universities, until something more is done for them. 
At present, it is not desirable that this migration should cease ; 
but it is desirable, that America should compete with the countries 
of the old world in the character and breadth of education 
which its best institutions of learning can give ; and unless a 
beginning is made, when will the desire ever be accomplished ? 
It is well to make haste slowly, but we have not made haste as 
fast as the rapid growth and material development of our country, 
and the needs of the educated classes, demand. While some few 
of the Colleges have improved, higher education has been too 
long at a stand-still, and until very recently, sufficient interest in 
this subject has not been awakened. We think that the last 
five years have shown a change in this respect, and that the 
development of higher, and especially University education, is 
one of the most important educational questions of the day. 
Let us then cast aside the trammels of the old curriculum, re- 
cognize the important difference between the .College and the 
University, and introduce freedom of teaching and of learning 
as the fundamental basis of our University organization. In 
the words of the Duke of Devonshire, at the oj)ening of the 
new buildings of Owens College, Manchester, ^ ' It is now very 
generally recognized to be the proper function and duty of 
a University to teach not only some few selected subjects, but 
every great and important branch of human knowledge on 
which the human faculties can be employed.' But as this field 
is well-nigh illimitable, we must confine our selection for the 
present to representative branches of knowledge, and add to 
them as time and opportunity permit. And as to the spirit in 

1 ' Essays and Addresses by Professors and Lecturers of the Owens College, 
Manchester', p. xi. 



University Organization. 41 

which our zeal for knowledge should be prosecuted, let us apply 
Professor Hart's definition of the German Wissenschaft : ^ ' By Wis- 
schaft the Germans mean knowledge in the most exalted sense of 
that term, namely, the ardent, methodical, independent search 
after truth in any and all of its forms, but wholly irrespective of 
utilitarian application.' It is hard to impress this idea upon the 
practical American mind. Utilitarianism is, above all things, 
the average American's besetting sin ; but it is to be hoped that 
the utility of culture will ere long be recognized as best suited to 
the demands of American life. 

There is a daily increasing number who would hail with de- 
light the organization in this country of a few real Universities, 
and would gladly give of their means to further this end. No 
State system of public instruction is complete until this end is 
attained ; and as it is not to be expected that the country could 
support as many Universities as there are States, or even half that 
number, is it too much to hope that adjoining States in different 
parts of the country may ultimately join in the development of 
the leading University in their midst, and thus furnish the 
country with what it needs ? The sole other hope is in the en- 
lightened munificence of wealthy men, who are not slow to devote 
their wealth to the purpose of education ; but whose vision is 
too often narrowed to the design of adding one more to the 
already too numerous Colleges of the country. Too often also, 
the bulk of an endowment is expended in magnificent buildings, 
and little is left for that which constitutes the real College or 
University, the staff of professors.^ The strength of a Uni- 
versity lies in the men who give the instruction, and not in the 
buildings where that instruction is given, however grand they 
may be. We have a firm conviction, that the time will come 
when America will have one or more Universities; but we think 
that the nineteenth century, which has witnessed the unprecedented 
development of the country in so many other directions, should 
witness this also. Were we to begin now, the close of the century 
might, perhaps, see the accomplishment of our undertaking. 

^ Hart's ' German Universities ', p. 250. 

2 Some excellent remarks on this subject will be found in Prof. Hart's valu- 
able work (chap, vii., part ii), and it would be well for the country if 
College Trustees would give heed to them. 



42 University Organization. 

A writer twenty years ago in the Dublin University llagazine, 
in an excellent article on ' The Universities of Germany', ^ says 
of Universities in general : ' Their influence is not limited to 
the rising generation ; and their claims to our examination rest 
upon a still broader foundation. They are nurseries for the 
philosopher, the scholar, and the statesman — for all who are to 
fill the most important stations of a country — in short, we may 
call them the foci of a nation's intellectual life, the sources of its 
learning, and the fountain of its science, — the illustrious assem- 
blages of all its wisest and most thinking men. Moreover, as 
great social bodies, they display in a remarkable way the genius 
and character of a nation, and exercise a decisive influence on its 
moral, political, and social condition.' After a clear, full and 
accurate description of the German Universities, he says of them, 
in conclusion: 'They stand as the strongholds of modern Euro- 
pean intelligence, and form the safest and firmest anchors of 
general civilization and knowledge.' Is a similar statement true 
of American Universities ; and if not, how long shall it be before 
it is true? 

1 Reprinted in LUtelVs Living Age, No. 587, for 25th August, 1855, found 
in Vol. X, (Second Series,) p. 476. 

Note. — This note properly belongs to foot of page , but, as it was 
received too late to be inserted there, we give it here : — 

As illustrating the occupations of Fellows at the English Universities, we 
quote the following from an article on ' Pliny's Letters ' in the Westminster 
Review for April, 1875. The reviewer, commenting on the need of a ' College 
Edition ' of Pliny's Letters, remarks : ' Surely there are at Oxford and Cam- 
bridge a number of idle men called Fellows who ought to see to this. Tliere 
were at any rate many such in our day, and we do not believe that the genus 
is extinct. These men have not always been idle; on the contrary, many of 
them have acquired and exhibited at the age of two- or three-and-twenty a 
familiarity with the Greek and Latin languages such as we firmly believe is 
not to be found in any corresponding body of youths in any other country in 
the world. We put out of the question such of them as are engaged in College 
or private tuition ; though by the the way, those are tlie only ones who favor 
us with classical editions of solid merit. We speak of those who have taken 
the most extraordinary pains to render themselves capable of being useful in 
certain branches of learning, are discovered, by the curious observer, vege- 
tating under the ivy of the quadrangles; who, after having succeeded in 
writing better Latin prose than Lipsius, and better Greek verse than Scaliger, 
have all of a sudden deviated into common-room gossip and short whist. 
It would almost seem as if, in the absence of a sense of duty, an imperious 
yearningto be doing something with all this load of knowledge would have 
impelled some of these to turn their attention to neglected manuscripts and 
neglected authors.' 

If this is the result of Fellowship endowments, we are naturally tempted 
to ask, €ui bono? 



R '^ 2 2 5 



Jniveksity Organization. 



JAMES M, GARNETT, M.A., LL.D. 



Principal of St. John's College, Annapolis, Md. 



[Keprinted from the Southern Review lor July, 1875.] 















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